ACMA Issues Class Licence for Visiting Amateurs

The ACMA has issued a class licence to allow visiting amateurs to operate in Australia for up to 90 days using their home call sign followed by the suffix VK followed by "portable" and then the location of the station, without doing anything more.

That class licence comes into effect on 14 February.

There are 5 levels of visitor licence, 3 matching the Australian Advanced, Standard and Foundation licenses, a VHF licence, and finally, in effect, a 146 to 148 FM licence.

The privileges of each level are set out in the class licence.

ACMA will publish on its website a table showing equivalencies to the Australian visitor levels for different overseas licences.

The class licence for visiting amateurs does not allow Australian amateurs to operate in the CEPT countries, but it is hoped that CEPT will on the basis of that licence soon decide to allow Australian Advanced licensees to operate a in the CEPT countries, some 32 countries mainly in Europe, using their Australian call sign.

We hope that there will be an article in April AR on how Australian amateurs will be able to use their CEPT TR 61 01 licence (as it is called) in the CEPT countries.

The WIA has been in regular contact with the IARU Region 1 representative on the relevant CEPT Working Group, and will pass on any news as soon as it is received.

It is hoped that a copy of the class licence will be available on the WIA website on either Monday or Tuesday 11 and 12 of February.

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